Section on Statistical Education

Steve C. Wang
2008 Recipient of the Waller Education Award

Steve
Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and
Statistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
After receiving his Ph.D. from The University of Chicago in 1998 and
prior to moving to Swarthmore in 2002 Steve held positions at Williams
College and at Harvard. Steve has an extraordinary ability to make
statistics meaningful and relevant to his students and to general
public audiences. His use of examples and information from popular
culture is one of the hallmarks of his teaching. Recognizing that
students have different learning styles, he incorporates mulitple modes
of instruction on any given topic into his courses, including words,
formulas and hands-on experiences. His students routinely describe his
classes as a transformative experience.

Steve's scholarship outside the classroom is impressive as well. His
work with paleontologists has been described in publications ranging
from Science to The New York Times. He has published and
lectured on various aspects of statistics related to baseball, often
drawing media attention. For instance, in February 2008 he gave a
presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement
of Science entitled "Visualizing Managerial Strategies," in which he
discussed the strategies of managers in major league baseball. The
presentation resulted in stories in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other news outlets.

The ASA Section on Statistical Education is pleased to honor Steve
Wang with the 2008 Waller Award in recognition of his far-reaching
impact on the understanding of and appreciation for statistics among
students and the public.